


It's all about politics

by SugdenLovesDingle



Series: Robert Week 2019 [3]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Politics, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 07:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21157724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Robert Week day 3  Iconic™️ / SassinessRobert’s hook up turns out to work for his and Nicola’s political opponent





	It's all about politics

Robert was hungover. Very hungover. Even if the night before had been more than worth it, he wished he could turn around and go home and crawl back into bed.

But if he did that Nicola would probably drag him back to the office herself.

So instead he took another sip of his coffee and winced as he took off his sunglasses and put them in his pocket.

“Robert, Nicola is looking for you. She’s in her office and she’s not happy.” Priya, one of his colleagues, warned him.

“Is she ever?” Robert sighed. “What did Jimmy do this time to piss her off?”

“I don’t know, but if there’s ever a time to smile and nod and tell her she’s right about everything, it’s today.”

“So what else is new?”

“Just giving you a heads up.” Priya told him, then paused to take a good look at him. “Weren’t you wearing that outfit yesterday too?”

“I better go in and see Nicola.” Robert said instead of answering her question.

He walked to Nicola’s office and mentally braced himself for the yelling that would probably follow.

“You wanted to see me?” he said sweetly when he walked into her office.

“Well actually I wanted to kill you but that would be bad for my campaign.”

“Lucky me then that you’re running for office.” Robert joked but Nicola’s face was still set to murder. “Anyway, what’s up?” he asked.

“This.” She said pointing at a newspaper on her desk. “What the hell is this?”

“That’s what we call a newspaper.” Robert said, “It’s what people read to find out what’s happening in the world.”

“Don’t get cute with me, Robert. You know damn well what I mean.”

“No I don’t. What did the tabloids print about you this time? Or did Charity Dingle say something about you?”

“Oh no it’s not about me. They’ve found a much more interesting subject to write about.”

“Yeah? What’s that then?”

“Look!” she shoved the paper in his face “This isn’t happening. Please tell me that’s your long lost twin.”

Robert looked at the paper and saw pictures of himself from last night.

Pictures of himself in a gay bar he’d gone to with some of the campaign staff to blow off some steam, and pictures of himself and one guy in particular. In the bar, kissing and laughing, and in the alley behind the bar, doing other stuff that he was glad the paparazzo hadn’t been able to get a clear picture of.

Even though it was obvious what they were doing.

“Sleeping with the enemy.” Robert read aloud. “That’s a bit dramatic isn’t it?”

“Dramatic? Do you have any idea who that guy is, Robert?”

“Uhm… his name is Aaron… I think.” Robert said and checked his phone where he’d saved a picture of the guy with his name as the caption. “Yep. Definitely Aaron.”

“Last name?”

“I don’t know Nicola, we didn’t quite get around to telling each other our entire family history.” Robert said exasperated. “We were kind of busy doing other things.” He added with a grin.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“That’s what he said last night.”

Nicola gave him a death stare.

“Are you going to meet up with him again?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Hopefully.”

“You can’t.”

“What? Since when do you get any say in that?”

“Since that’s Aaron DINGLE, Robert. Charity Dingle’s nephew or whatever. He works for her!”

“Oh.”

“Yes. Oh.” Nicola let out a frustrated grunt. “I should just sack you as damage control.”

“You wouldn’t. You need me.”

“Like a hole in the head.” Nicola deadpanned. “I should promote Priya and sack you.” She muttered. “Did he say anything about Charity or the campaign? Or our campaign?”

“No. I know it’s hard to imagine for you but not everyone spends their every waking hour thinking and talking about the great Nicola King.”

“I should really sack you. You were a sure thing, Robert! You had the perfect fiancée and the built in kid, what happened?”

“The kid was a psychopath.”

“Yeah and you slept with your sister in law. Which the papers loved of course.”

“Well then at least it made someone happy.”

“Oh she wasn’t good enough for you? You cost me my seat on the council last time with that stunt!” Nicola yelled.

“I was bored, she wanted to make her boyfriend jealous. Didn’t work out.” Robert shrugged. “But aren’t the latest numbers in your favour?”

“Not in every district. I need Nora and Helen on side and they both fancy you. For reasons unknown…”

“What, you want me to go seduce them or something?”

“Well that’s not going to work anymore now is it? Now the whole country knows you’re gay.”

“I’m not gay, I’m bi.” Robert corrected her. “And I very much doubt anyone cares about the campaign manager of some random woman running for a place on the local council.”

“I need to win this time ok, Robert? I am not losing to Charity Dingle again.” Nicola went on, ignoring Robert. “I mean I’m already behind because she’s a lesbian and her wife is a vet. I can’t compete with that can I? A lesbian lover and cute, fluffy bunnies!” She ranted.

“I’m pretty sure she’s bi, not gay.”

“Same thing!” Nicola yelled, frustrated. “Wait. How do you know that? Did Aaron tell you that?”

“No. We didn’t talk much at all, let alone about that.” Robert told her. “But she was at pride last summer waving a bi pride flag.”

“She was? How do you know?”

“I was there. And it was in the paper.” Robert shrugged. “The same one you’ve just thrown in my face.”

Nicola looked at the paper on her desk again and Robert could see the cogs turning in her head.

“I need the gays to like me too. I need the gay vote.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Robert sighed.

“I don’t know… I need you to find out what Charity Dingle is doing to make the gays like her. Call Aaron, go out with him again, see what you can find out!”

“Oh I can go out with him again now? Ten minutes ago I wasn’t allowed to see him again.”

“If you’re going to shag Aaron bloody Dingle in some dodgy alley, you better make it worth my while.”

“I have to make my sex life worth your while?” Robert said laughingly. “I thought we’d put that behind us a long time ago?”

Nicola glared at him.

“We all make mistakes. Now go call Aaron and see what you can find out from him about Charity.”

“What if I don’t like him? What if I just used him to get to his mate?”

“Tough! Do as you’re told for once!”

Robert rolled his eyes and grabbed the paper off Nicola’s desk.

“What do you want with that?”

“Frame it and send it to my mother for Christmas.” Robert said sarcastically and laughed to himself when he heard Nicola call him every swear word she knew.

He loved his job, he loved the attention and being able to play with people’s opinion to make them vote in their favour, but sometimes he loved winding up Nicola even more.

After a quick stop off at the office kitchen to get himself some more coffee, he settled in a quiet corner to take a good look at the pictures. They really weren’t the most flattering and there really wasn’t any doubt as to what they were doing in the alley, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much.

Not when he saw the way Aaron was looking at him in those pictures.

He got his phone out and snapped a picture of the paper and sent it to Aaron.

_Looks like we’re famous now._

The reply came almost instantly.

_\- Looks like it. What will we do with this new found fame?_

Robert smiled at his phone.

_I don’t know. Maybe we should discuss it over lunch?_

_\- Alright. Your place or mine?_

_I didn’t mean that kind of lunch, but I guess I can be persuaded ;)_

_\- Later. I do need to eat. I know a good place. 12.30 ok?_

_Sure. Text me the address and I’ll be there._

_\- Good answer_

They texted back and forth for a while until Aaron said he had to go and he’d meet him at a café a friend of his owned.

Robert decided to stay in his hiding place and got his laptop out of his bag to try get some work done. Only his mind kept drifting back to the night before and he ended up searching the internet for more pictures of the two of them. He found a few more on the tabloid’s website and the club’s Facebook page.

Some of the comments under the tabloid article were the standard shocked housewives who complained the paper shouldn’t post those kind of pictures, as well as a few homophobes, but nothing too interesting.

Facebook was a lot of eggplant emojis and some comments on how they’d clearly enjoyed themselves. No mention of Nicola or his connection to her campaign. Or Aaron’s connection to Charity’s.

The rest of the morning went by quickly and thankfully his hangover was starting to subside by the time he left the office to go meet Aaron for lunch.

When he got to the café Aaron was already there, talking to a guy Robert recognised as one of the friends he’d been at the bar with the night before.

“Hey.” Robert said, walking up to them. “I haven’t kept you waiting, have I?”

“No, no, it’s fine. I just got here.” Aaron told him. “I was just trying to convince Ellis to give us a free lunch because he’s a good friend and friends look after each other.”

“Yeah and I told him he can just pay like everyone else.” Ellis said and patted Aaron’s shoulder before walking away.

“Do you want to get a table?” Robert asked and Aaron nodded and they sat down at the nearest free table.

“So you saw the paper then.” Aaron stated.

“Yeah. Nicola shoved it in my face this morning. And yelled at me for sleeping with the enemy.”

“Ouch.”

“It’s alright. She yells at me a lot… it’s kind of our thing.” Robert explained. “I do something she doesn’t like, she yells at me and threatens to sack me, or actually does sack me, I stay out of her way for a few hours and we go on like nothing happened.”

Aaron laughed.

“Interesting dynamic.”

“What’s it like working for Charity Dingle then?”

“I don’t really work for her to be honest. I just get dragged into it from time to time.” Aaron told him. “She’s my mum’s cousin and well, they’re Dingles so they’re all about family, you know.”

Robert nodded.

“Nicola hates that about her. She’s been trying to get the perfect white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and a Labrador thing going for years but it’s not really working out.”

“And what about you? Any white picket fences in your near future?”

Robert leaned forward on the table a little.

“Not right now… but never say never. When the right person comes along… sure. But right now, I’m just enjoying being single.”

“And going home with blokes you just met in a club.”

“And enjoying it thoroughly.”

A waitress stopped by their table to take their order and came back with their food in record time.

“It helps when you know the owner.” Aaron said with grin.

“Obviously. I think I should keep hanging out with you. It’s got it’s perks.”

They kept flirting as they ate and Robert was ready to sack of work for the rest of the week and just spend it with Aaron. Preferably wearing a lot less clothing than they were now.

“Charity lost her shit over the paper this morning.” Aaron said. “Told me to stay away from anyone that works for the snake.” He added laughingly.

“I’m glad you don’t listen to her then.”

“It’s kind of exciting isn’t it? Sneaking around.”

“Forbidden love.” Robert agreed. “Romeo and… erm… Romeo”

Aaron laughed

“How about just Robert and Aaron?”

Robert smiled.

“That sounds pretty good to me.”

“What are you doing the rest of the day?” Aaron asked after a minute.

“Nothing that can’t wait.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Do you want to get out of here?”

Robert dropped a 20 pound note on the table.

“Gladly.”


End file.
